TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (11) TMI 937
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.... It has been submitted that the Opposite Party is involved in the development of open-source software, applications, blogging websites, plugins, etc. The Informant has further averred that the Opposite Party is the parent company of Wordpress.org [a content management system (CMS)], wherein the user can create a simple blog as well as a fully operational website and mobile applications. 3. As per the OP, for developing a website, a user is typically required to be well- versed with coding and programming. If a user who wishes to develop a website but is not skilled in coding can use a CMS platform which simplifies website development by providing pre-built templates, plugins, and a user-friendly interface for adding, editing, and organiz....
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.... 5.1. Section 4(2)(b)(ii) - By banning new categories of plugins of the Informant, WordPress is limiting the technical development relating to the services and options available to the prejudice of consumers. 5.2. Section 4(2)(c) - WordPress has banned all the plugin offered by the Informant and it kept rejecting new submissions and new categories of plugins even after 4 years of ban which constitutes an act of denial of market access. 6. The Informant sought immediate reinstatement of its plugins and compensation for lost revenues as reliefs from the Commission. The Informant has also sought similar Interim Relief under Section 33 of the Act against the Opposite Party. 7. Having considered the Information, the Commission v....
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....be an abuse of dominant position, if any, for reasons elaborated in this order. However, for completeness, the Commission has delineated the applicable relevant market and assessed dominance of the OP or wordpress.org in the same. 13. It is noted that the wordpress.org is primarily a CMS services which simplifies website development for non- technical users by providing pre-built templates, plugins, and a user-friendly interface for adding, editing, and organizing content and enables them to manage website content easily by reducing the need for extensive coding. Traditional website design and development agencies, as well as in-house website building and management teams, could also be considered to be competing with CMS providers. Howe....
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....end the functionality of their websites. In this regard, it is noted that WordPress.org provides a directory known as the 'WordPress Plugin Directory', which lists plugins created by various third-party developers. In relation to plugin directories, it has been submitted that the plugins created for one CMS (such as WordPress) may be listed on the directory meant for another CMS (such as Shopify) by creating a new version through modifications to the code as per the code requirements, guidelines and policies of each CMS and the relevant directory where it is to be listed. Thus, it appears that plugins developed for a specific CMS are often tailored to the architecture of that particular platform. As a result, plugins built for one CMS may n....
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....lug-in Directory has to go through. Further, based on the available information, it is noted that WordPress Plugin Directory hosts around 60000 plugins while other directories have significantly less number of plugins. Therefore, it appears that WordPress is a dominant player in this relevant market. 18. Now, coming to the examination of alleged conduct of WordPress, it is noted that the primary grievance of the Informant is delisting of its plugins by WordPress. The OP has submitted that all plugin developers are subject to a set of guidelines i.e., 'Detailed Plugin Guidelines', 'Forum Guidelines' and the 'Community Code of Conduct', in order to ensure a simple and transparent process for developers to submit their plugins to the Plugin....
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....und 35 developers including the Informant have been permanently banned from WordPress.org for repeated violation of the Guidelines. Therefore, the conduct of the Opposite Party does not appear to be either unfair or discriminatory. 20. The Informant has also alleged that Jetpack (the plugin of the OP) could be the reason for deleting 5-star reviews of the Informant to bring the overall rating down. The OP has denied that Informant's Way2enjoy Image Optimizer Plugin was banned to support its own Jetpack Plugin. It is stated that OP's Jetpack plugin offers a wide range of features, whereas the Informant's Way2enjoy Image Optimizer Plugin is a one-point solution that has a sole function i.e., image optimization. Therefore, there is substant....